Super Bowl weekend, Casino Guru Awards nominations, and responsible gambling

With the Super Bowl fast approaching, Americans are preparing to plonk down some serious wagers. Although the legal betting market is a moving target, analyses are already coming in.

The American Gaming Association is predicting that a total of $1.39bn will be wagered on the Super Bowl title game this weekend.

A fairly conservative amount compared to some other predictions, this will make the Super Bowl LIX game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs the most wagered sports event of the year, and possibly in the industry’s history, when it comes to domestically held sports.

According to Eilers and Krejcik, a respected analyst firm in the United States focusing on the gambling industry, the actual tally from regulated sports gambling will be closer to $1.5bn, although this is still a conservative estimate.

Texans are remarkably open to most forms of gambling expansion and legalization, showing a strong support for Las Vegas-style casino resorts, and equally solid backing for online sports betting. According to a new survey, there is a clear shift in public opinion backing the legalization of gambling across multiple verticals in the Lone Star State.

Business and finance

Wire Industries and its flagship brand, WagerWire, have teamed up with Birches Health to double down on Responsible Gambling markets. As WagerWire seeks to be a leader in secondary betting markets and beyond, the company has shown a clear commitment to making the betting experience safer for its growing customer base.

Polymarket has been targeted in yet another country in Europe. The prediction market platform was named an illegal gambling site by the Belgium gambling regulator and added to the country’s blacklist.

Regulation and laws

Washington tribes have warned against social media ads that impersonate their casinos and beguile unsuspecting denizens to deposit money into fake gambling accounts. The money is then stolen. The ads are sophisticated and they emulate what a real online casino would look like. However, tribal gaming operators remind citizens that there is no legal online gambling in the state.

Florida has gone after multiple offshore gambling websites, serving MyBookie, BetUS, and Bovada with cease-and-desist letters and giving them 14 days to comply and exit the state. The move reflects similar commitments by other states to oust unlicensed gambling sites.

Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine, is seeking to double the current sports betting tax rate to 40% from the current 20%. There seems to be momentum going in his favor, and the governor may actually succeed.

Responsible gambling

GAMSTOP has releaseda new survey in which it said that there has been a significant increase in the number of U-25 individuals who have been joining the self-exclusion program. The organization urged for more awareness and education campaigns to reach this vulnerable group of players.

The UK Gambling Commission has published new guidelines on financial checks to make it easier for customers to make informed decisions and be reminded about their gambling habits frequently, thus seeking to avert over-spending and most importantly, incurring gambling-related harm.

The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling has not renewed its state funding with the state of Florida, citing red tape requirements that slowed down the council’s work. The council also cautioned about a significant increase in the number of callers to the gambling helpline since the Hard Rock Bet app launched.

The voice of the industry

One left remains for applicants to submit their nominations to the Casino Guru Awards 2025. This year’s event is the first that is going to hold an official live ceremony, making it a truly special industry event. Do not miss your chance to nominate a company here.

Next up, Casino Guru News had the chance to catch up with Jo Abergel, one of Casino Guru Awards’ esteemed judges in The Most Impactful Social Responsibility Initiative. Abergel talks about the evolution of the Casino Guru Awards format and what social responsibility in the gambling industry means, where it started, and where it is headed. You can read the full interview with Abergel here.

Casino Guru’s Head of Sustainable & Safer Gambling caught up with Group Responsible Gambling Manager for Fortuna Entertainment Group, Eva Heringova, as part of the Safer Gambling Talks series. The two spoke about how companies are fighting for a safer overall gambling industry and what can be done to achieve this.

Casino Guru News had the opportunity to also catch up with Ekaterina Giganova, Head of Marketing Communications at EvenBet, who spoke about how to build a rewards program for players, that actually hits its intended mark.

Denisa Vydumova, Content & PR Specialist at Casino Guru,offers another peak behind the scenes of Casino Guru’s day-to-day operations and the website’s mission and main function. Read the full interview with Vydumova here.

Connor Blinman, Head of Games at Gaming Corps, caught up with Casino Guru News to talk about Gates of Hellfire, one of the company’s freshest releases. Finally, Casino Guru News spoke with Jaako Soininen who discussed how Finland, and Finnplay in particular, are preparing for a fully-regulated licensee-based market.

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